wrong?”
“Nothing,” Sarah said.
Kelsey used two fingers to point from her eyes to Sarah’s and back again. “Big sister radar, remember? It’s a man, isn’t it?” She closed her eyes in mock concentration. “I see a tall, dark asshole in your future…”
“He’s got brown hair.” Sarah wanted to kick herself the moment she said it. She and her sister had always competed in the Golden Girl Sweepstakes to see which of them could live the most perfect, enviable life. Kelsey had dropped out of the race when Mike left, but Sarah was still competing, almost subconsciously. Admitting to a relationship—no, not a relationship, a fling—with the kind of cowboy she’d always scorned would be like throwing the game.
“So who is he? What happened?”
“Nobody.” Sarah put her hands up, palms out, to stop the onslaught of questions. “Nothing.”
Kelsey gave her a suspicious look, then slumped. “Well, it’s about time you had some fun. I just wish you’d tell me about it so I could live vicariously, that’s all.”
“Nothing to tell.” Sarah set the puppy on the floor and stood up, brushing imaginary crumbs from her dress. As she bent forward, her necklace swung forward and almost hit her in the face.
“What’s that?” Kelsey reached over and took the charm between her fingers. “Oh, Sarah, a little horse. Are you going to start riding again?”
“No.” The vehemence of her denial surprised her, and it made Kelsey take a step back.
“Sorry, I just—it was your thing, you know? You loved it so. And just because things didn’t work out back then doesn’t mean you can’t ride anymore.”
“I can’t,” Sarah said. “Trust me, it’s not going to happen.”
“Okay.” Kelsey winced and raised a hand to her forehead. “Oh, shit.”
“It’s starting?”
Kelsey closed her eyes tight and clutched her stomach. “Yeah.”
“Go lie down, hon. Try to get some sleep. I’m here.”
“Okay.” Kelsey gave her a weak smile. “What time do you have to leave in the morning?”
“Early. Like seven. But if Katie’s up, I’ll give her breakfast.”
“Okay.” Kelsey stood, her shoulders hunched against the pain. “So, on Saturday…”
Sarah knew what was coming, and she could feel a headache of her own coming on. They’d had this conversation before.
“What about it?”
“Maybe you could take Katie to town. Some of the other moms in the PTO go to the playground in the afternoon.”
“Like who?”
Kelsey listed a couple of girls they’d gone to school with who were grown now with kids of their own.
“I don’t think so,” Sarah said. “We can play here.”
“Sarah, you have to go to town sometime. You can’t just hide out here. Especially if you’re moving back.”
“Why? They won’t have anything to say to me. I couldn’t get out of this town fast enough, and people here couldn’t wait to kick me in the butt on my way out.”
“That’s not true, Sarah.”
“Then why didn’t anybody talk to me after Roy died? Why did every room go quiet when I walked in? Why didn’t one single person offer to help us?”
Kelsey stomped her foot. “Because you scared them all away!”
“I was a fifteen-year-old kid. How scary is that?”
“Pretty damn scary when it’s you, Sarah. It was like you had your own personal thundercloud you carried around with you. Nobody knew what to say to you. You never reached out. Never gave anybody a chance.”
“A chance to what? To come watch our mother drink herself to death? To see how our lives were falling apart? Why? So they could gossip about us again, the way they did before Roy came along and made us respectable?”
“So they could help.”
“I didn’t need their kind of help.”
Kelsey stood in the door to the hallway looking defeated. “You’re just making it worse, you know. Everybody sees your car here. They’re all wondering why you don’t come say hello.”
“Well, they can keep on wondering.” Sarah sighed. “I’ll be late tomorrow, okay? I have a lot to wrap up.”
“You work too hard,” Kelsey said.
“Look who’s talking. Taking care of a three-year-old and working full-time is a lot harder.” Sarah smiled, trying to break the tension. “Besides, I love my job.”
As she said it, a bolt of dread shot through her and she thought she might get a migraine herself. She used to love her job. But with all that had happened that night, she was hardly looking forward to her next day at the Carrigan Corporation.
Chapter 21
“I figured it out,” Eric said.
Sarah perched in the chair in front of his desk in her usual posture, straight up, knees slanted to one side, hands clasped